A series of small earthquakes has been recorded in waters around the Canary Islands, with the strongest tremors located northwest of Fuerteventura.
The National Geographic Institute (IGN) recorded seven earthquakes between Wednesday afternoon and the early hours of Thursday, five of them in the Atlantic-Canary Islands seismic zone.
The largest measured 2.5 magnitude on the Richter scale at 1:55am Canary Islands time on Thursday and was recorded at a depth of approximately 10 kilometres.
Another earthquake 2.3 measuring followed at 4:40am at a depth of 17 kilometres.
Both were located in Atlantic waters northwest of Fuerteventura, and neither was reported as having been felt by the population. No damage or disruption was reported.
Seven earthquakes in a matter of hours
The seven movements recorded during the sequence ranged from magnitude 0.7 to 2.5.
Five were registered in the Atlantic-Canary Islands area, while another occurred southeast of Agaete in Gran Canaria and one southwest of Tazacorte in La Palma.
The strongest offshore movements were:
Magnitude 2.5 — Atlantic-Canary Islands, 1:55am Canary Islands time, at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Magnitude 2.3 — Atlantic-Canary Islands, 4:40am, at a depth of 17 kilometres.
Magnitude 2.0 — Atlantic-Canary Islands, 10:05pm on Wednesday, at a depth of 34 kilometres.
Two further Atlantic movements measured magnitudes of 1.6 and 1.5.
No cause for alarm
Despite several earthquakes occurring within a relatively short period, the movements close to Fuerteventura were small and caused no reported incidents.
Local reporting citing the IGN described the two strongest earthquakes northwest of El Cotillo as falling within the normal seismic activity of this oceanic area.
Earthquakes are regularly detected around the Canary Islands by the IGN's seismic monitoring network, many of which are too weak or too distant from populated areas to be noticed.
The IGN says 161 earthquakes have been located around the Canary Islands during September, with none reported as felt by the population.
